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The 100 Best Horror Films Of All Time


Devon Malcolm

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I have only seen The Shining once and wasnt impressed, I dont know if it was because it had been billed to me as a masterpiece so I expected something amazing or what but I wouldnt watch it again, it seemed like not much happened for how long it went on, maybe I just dont get it although I have always been fairly comfortable with my taste in movies

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The Descent is excellent. In the cinema.

 

It doesn't translate to DVD quite so well, the big screen really lent itself it to the claustrophobic atmosphere the film wanted to create.

 

Evil Dead 2 is a smart choice, though probably deserves to be higher. As for Phantasm, it's a bit pastiche but i've always loved it.

 

This list misses Braindead, though. I adore that film.

 

It's at 99 under it's other name Dead Alive

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That's not a bad list I might put some films higher or lower than they are, but it seems to get the majority of "big" horror films in there. I know I wouldn't place Exorcist as my number one, since I just found the film boring. But it's still a very influential film in the genre.

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Knowing for a fact that nobody will agree with me, I'd say Pitch Black should have been in that list. If not the Top 100 then definitely the Top 150.

 

Nah if you were gonna start putting that level of films on then even stuff like Event Horizon should go before it

 

edit: sounded a bit negative, I do really like Pitch Black

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LISTS~! are dangerous, dangerous things. It's gotten to the point where I now hate debating and discussing them. One thing I will say is that Hellraiser is insanely low and I've really never gotten the fascination for The Exorcist.

 

Cue Sickboy complaining about The Descent in 5, 4, 3...

 

The Descent's not horrible by any means, but it's a *** film, no more. Neil Marshall was one of those Emperor's New Clothes directors people go nuts about for a while, because he was British, and apparently, the saviour of horror. Then he shat out an absolute abortion of a film in Doomsday, followed by the pretty woeful Centurion, proving that he unfortunately peaked with Dog Soldiers, and isn't here to save anything.

 

And as for the TCM argument I've had on here a million times, the original has two amazing moments that the remake didn't better. The blunt, shocking brutality of the hammer kill, where the door slides open, and you don't know what the fuck you're seeing, which is the single best kill in all of horror; and the ending, where Leatherface is whirling around in the dusk, with that incredible, high-pitched chainsaw scream. Everything about that ending shot is fucking fantastic. Other than that, it's just not a great movie. You don't give a shit about any of the characters, and it's honestly boring in a lot of places. The remake - which BTW I'm not claiming is a classic by any means, just better - does so much more with the premise, and R. Lee Ermey and Old Monty are every bit as horrifying as the original Leatherface. The remake's prequel sucks massive dog's cock though.

 

Talking of The Wicker Man, I watched the sequel at the weekend, The Wicker Tree. Same director, but man, it's truly, truly awful. Christopher Lee's (top billed) cameo is tragic. He's so very frail that it's upsetting, and it's shot on the worst greenscreen, with awful lighting supposed to replicate him being outside in the country. The whole tone is all over the place. It's clearly supposed to be set in the same world as the Wicker Man, with Lee's character being the same guy, but it slips between 60's Hammer gothic and sub-Robin Askwith farce, with Brit-played American characters in the lead who wear stetsons and say things like "Shucks! I'm just a dumb ol' cowboy!" for reals.

 

I try not to get riled up about arbitrary lists, but no Session 9?! That'd make my horror top 5.

 

Exorcist definitely suffers from "done to death" syndrome. I'm sure it was poo-pants scary when it came out, but when we first got to see it here in the late 90s, it had been parodied to death, and all the things that were so innovative at the time were old-hat techniques stolen by a hundred lesser movies we'd seen before.

 

One of my favourite recent horrors, The Last Exorcism, starts on Channel 4+1 at 11.

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Nah if you were gonna start putting that level of films on then even stuff like Event Horizon should go before it

 

Event Horizon really is one of the miracles of modern cinema considering who directed it.

 

I want to know more about this TCM version of The Shining. What bits did they leave out?

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Nah if you were gonna start putting that level of films on then even stuff like Event Horizon should go before it

 

Event Horizon really is one of the miracles of modern cinema considering who directed it.

 

He made a 3 star movie out of a potential 5 star premise. The cunt.

 

Here's a treat for Shining fans, if you've not seen it yet. A super detailed analysis of the way Kubrick used impossible spaces to disorientate and creep you the fuck out. You really should watch this.

 

Part I:

Part II:

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Nah if you were gonna start putting that level of films on then even stuff like Event Horizon should go before it

 

Event Horizon really is one of the miracles of modern cinema considering who directed it.

 

I want to know more about this TCM version of The Shining. What bits did they leave out?

 

It had the Doctor examination scene but i think they cut the talk about the history of the hotel as well as some of the extended dialogue bits. Seems odd to cut the extended version rather than show the shorter european edit. Last year they were showing newly found prints in America with the original scenes (not featured on the US or european versions) that Kubrick ordered to be sliced out. Any idea if they are going to make their way onto a DVD. Not heard anything about it since the announcement.

 

Event Horizon was pitched as 'The Shining in Space' Would loved to have seen the super long original edit that was rejected by the studio

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Nah if you were gonna start putting that level of films on then even stuff like Event Horizon should go before it

 

Event Horizon really is one of the miracles of modern cinema considering who directed it.

 

He made a 3 star movie out of a potential 5 star premise. The cunt.

 

Here's a treat for Shining fans, if you've not seen it yet. A super detailed analysis of the way Kubrick used impossible spaces to disorientate and creep you the fuck out. You really should watch this.

 

Part I:

Part II:

 

I love that the guy who made those videos dismisses that they could just be set design errors because Kubrick is a perfectionist. This is the same director that had half the crew visible in a mirror in Eyes Wide Shut.

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Nah if you were gonna start putting that level of films on then even stuff like Event Horizon should go before it

 

Event Horizon really is one of the miracles of modern cinema considering who directed it.

 

It's a tricky one, cos Event Horizon is totally a scifi film, but then so is Alien really; except they're both horror. Pitch Black is great too.

 

I'll comment on the list tomorrow when I'm not so tired.

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